


A Day Goes By

by Crystalliced



Category: Original Work
Genre: AU, Alcohol, Angst, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Heartbreak, Holding Hands, Inner Strength, Time Pass, drunk, self-confidence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-12
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 02:29:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2293628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystalliced/pseuds/Crystalliced
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lindsey realizes that she was the one who ruined her life and the resulting drama that follows.  </p>
<p>-Alternate Universe / Ending to Shatter Me<br/>-OC Fic</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Day Goes By

    “You don’t need to tell me, Lindsey.”  Tyler stares at me with that little sad half-smile.  “I can see it on your face.”  I break eye contact in favor of looking down, not wanting him to see the tears forming.  He stands up, slowly, and turns to leave.  

    “W-Wait...”  I blurt out, “What about Anna?  I can’t...”  A bittersweet expression forms on his face.  “You’ll have to.”  Tyler says simply, “Because I can’t possibly look at her every day and be reminded of you.”  

    “I hope...”  Tyler hesitates at the doorway, “I hope that her dad is better to her than I was.”  

    He walks out.  A few seconds later, I can hear him whispering something to Anna, who’s too young to ever understand the situation that is unfolding around her, and then the door opens and closes.

     I have never felt so alone.

     Three years pass.  The hollowness in my chest grows only stronger.  No one I talk to ever makes the pain go away.  Not the way he could.  I miss him...

    I begin turning to alcohol as a way to manage the depression.  Not a lot, and never enough to get intoxicated.  Just enough to take the edge away.  

     I continue playing the piano at the Triple Club, and feel hopelessly lonely without him behind me, or sitting down next to me.

    Our daughter turns four, and I cry when she asks me where her papa is.  

    One day, though, Nick shows up at my apartment door, looking excited.  He demands usage of a computer, to which I wearily comply with.  Opening up a window, he types in the search bar and selects a video.

    "Revitalize - Tyler Nakayama."  A violinist solo music video.  The visuals are nice, but not special - simply a video of the sunrise.  But the song...

     A hopeful melody and a rising backtrack.  As the name would imply, this song is about...new life.  Tyler...

    "Thank you."  I tell Nick, and he smirks.

    "What if I told you I knew where his house was?"

      I take a sharp right and come up to the house in question.  Small, simple.  Light color scheme.  Stereotypical.  I park, step out of the car and walk over the door.

Knock knock knock-

A pause, then he opens the door.  My breath catches.

    "Tyler..." I breathe out, staring at him as his eyes widen.  "No...no way.  Lindsey?"  

    I can’t help but absorb every detail.  He hasn’t changed his bit, with the exception of his eyes.  They’ve changed from a soft, comforting chocolate brown to a steely, piercing gray.  “What happened?”  I ask, indicating his eyes.  “Heterochromia.”  Tyler replies simply, with the same voice that I’ve fallen for.  “Started about a year ago.”  The conversation grinds to a halt as I rack my mind for something to ask that isn’t totally silly.

     “With all due respect, Lindsey, why are you here?”  I wince at the sharp undertone of his voice but refuse to back off.  Why am I here?

     “I don’t know.”  I answer honestly, and the look in his eyes must tell him that he hurt me with those words, because his expression softens.  “Don’t you have better things to do?”  Ouch.  ‘I...”

     The Tyler three years ago would have welcomed me into his home.  Yet, here I am, standing awkwardly outside his door while he throws personal, invasive questions at me that feel intended to drive me away.  

    He isn’t gone.  That warm, comforting persona is still definitely in him.  It’s just no longer directed towards me.  He’s hiding away, like how a lampshade dims the bright lightbulb.  Still there, but shuttered away.  The conclusion hits me like a ton of bricks.

    “You’ve found someone else.”  I whisper.  “Haven’t you?”  He nods imperceptibly.  “Yes.”  That’s all he needs to say, and it is all I need to know.  I choke back the bitter disappointment / angst in my throat.  Of course he has.  Here I am, expecting everything to just go back to normal after this, hoping beyond hope that we can just resume the relationship we had.

    Obviously not.  How could I be so delusional?  Even when we had first met, I had known there was something special about Tyler.  I was happy to have held onto him for as long as I did.  But when I let him go, I should have known that he wasn’t going to wait forever.  And I should have known that someone would see the beauty that I saw in him.  What was I thinking?

     Why am I still here?

    “I...I see.”  I fight to keep my voice steady.  Tyler stares at me with a look of pity, countenance not giving anything away else.  “You haven’t?”  He asks.  What would I give to hear an undertone of hope in his voice?  Anything.  Just a line that I could hold on to.  But now I can’t even see through the facade he has protecting himself to know what he feels.  I used to be able to...

    I can’t bring myself to answer.  To tell him that he was the only one to care about more than just my body.  So instead, I turn around.  “See you.”  I already know I’m not ever going to come back.  “Goodbye.”  He throws back.  I walk away, keeping my head high, refusing to cry even as the painful truth settles in.

    He’s moved on.  And I...

**     I’ve lost him.  
**


End file.
